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US says air strike in Syria killed Khorasan leader

Pentagon says operation earlier this month killed Muhsin al-Fadhli as he travelled near Sarmada in Syria.

22 Jul 2015 03:10 GMT

A senior al-Qaeda operative who reportedly was given advance notice of the September 11 attacks has been killed in an air strike in Syria, United States officials said.

Muhsin al-Fadhli, who the US says headed the so-called Khorasan group of al-Qaeda operatives, was killed in an air strike on July 8 as he travelled in a vehicle near Sarmada in Syria's Idlib province, said Captain Jeff Davis, the Pentagon's director of press operations.

"Al-Fadhli was the leader of a network of veteran al-Qaeda operatives, sometimes called the Khorasan Group, who are plotting external attacks against the United States and our allies," Davis said in a statement.

"He was a senior al-Qaeda facilitator who was among the few trusted al-Qaeda leaders that received advanced notification of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

"Al-Fadhli was also involved in terrorist attacks that took place in October 2002, including against US Marines on Faylaka Island in Kuwait and on the French ship MV Limburg. His death will degrade and disrupt ongoing external operations of al-Qaeda against the United States and our allies and partners."

Al Jazeera's Jamie McIntyre, reporting from Washington, said that officials were certain that al-Fadhli had been killed this time around.

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"They did not disclose how they have confirmed his identity, but said they were highly confident [he was killed]," he said, adding that there had been a $7m bounty on al-Fadhli's head.

US officials have described Khorasan as a particularly menacing faction of armed fighters who have been using their sanctuary in Syria to try to organise plots to attack US and other Western targets, possibly including airliners.